С 2002 года ICQ-клиенты разделяются на две ветки Lite и Pro. Соответственно ICQ Lite и позже ICQ Pro 2003a Beta.
На ICQ Pro 2003b ветка «Pro» закончила своё развитие. А ICQ Lite в 2004 году преобразовалась в ICQ 4.
ICQ 4.1 in Russian — первая официально локализованная версия клиента.
В 2005 году выходит релиз ICQ 5, а в 2006 — ICQ 5.1. Русские версии клиента выпускали Rambler и bigmir)net. Протестировать эти версии на данный момент также не представляется, т.к. они автоматически просят обновиться на более новую 6-ую версию.
С 1 июля 2008 г. компания ICQ Inc. обновила свой клиент до 6 версии. Подробнее о последних локализованных версиях здесь.
Для AOL остро стоит проблема конкуренции со стороны альтернативных клиентов. Не смотря на то, что в 2008 году протокол стал открытым — он не стал свободным, и в случае если альтернативным клиентом пользуется более 100 000 пользователей — он должен показывать рекламу.
Выпуск новой 6-ой ветки ICQ-клиента не смог перетянуть к себе пользователей альтернативных клиентов(в большинстве случаев это не связано с качеством самого клиента ICQ 6, а вызвано инертностью пользователей). Поэтому AOL с конца 2008 года начала борьбу с альтернативными клиентами. Это выразилось в изменениях в протоколе, блокированию по российским и украинским IP-адресам пользователей альтернативных клиентов. Впрочем пользователи воспринимают это как «глюки аськи», а не как повод к действию сменить ICQ-клиент на авторизованный.
Как альтернативу, AOL, специально для русскоязычной аудитории, выпустила ICQ Lite — облегчённую версию клиента с текстовой рекламой вместо баннерной.
История релизов ICQ 4 — ICQ 5.1
bigmir)net — ICQ 5.1 (build #3091)
(Release date: Tuesday, October 10, 2006)
PCCW — ICQ 5.1, English and Chinese (build #3081)
(Release date: Wednesday, October 04, 2006)
Zoznam — ICQ 5.1 (build #3088)
(Release date: Tuesday, October 03, 2006)
Atlas — ICQ 5.1 (build #3096)
(Release date: Tuesday, September 26, 2006)
Sat1 — ICQ 5.1 (build #3068)
(Release date: Monday, September 18, 2006)
ProSieben — ICQ 5.1 (build #3061)
(Release date: Monday, August 28, 2006)
Mynet — ICQ 5.013 (build #2451)
(Release date: Sunday, June 18, 2006)
ICQ 5.1 in English, Hebrew and German (build #3000)
(Release date: Monday, July 11, 2006)
ICQ 5.1 in Hebrew (build #2433)
(Release date: Monday, June 5, 2006)
ICQ 5.1 (build #2575)
(Release date: Thursday, May 18, 2006)
ICQ 5.1 in German (build #2405)
(Release date: Thursday, May 18, 2006)
ICQ 5.1 in German (build #2403)
(Release date: Tuesday, May 9, 2006)
ICQ 5.1 (build #2573)
(Release date: Tuesday, May 9, 2006)
New in this version:
• tZers — send short Flash animations to your Contact List friends.
• Quick access to send SMS messages to ICQ and non-ICQ Contacts (now called SMS Contacts).
• New option to select the login status.
• Notifications when contacts are online.
• New emoticons (old emoticons still available).
• Devil and nickname displayed on the top of the Contact List.
Improved:
• Improved Voice Chat sound quality using the latest VOIP technology (GIPS)
• Improved sign-up process.
• Improved User interface — text menus.
Changed:
• Add and Find Contacts button moved to the Contacts menu.
• Group Mode and Show Online Only buttons moved to the Contacts menu.
• Sort Contacts option moved to the Contacts menu.
• Find Contacts (in the Contact List) option moved to the Contacts menu.
• Adding an SMS Contact is now available from the Add and Find Contacts dialog.
• Xtraz Center shortcut button moved to the bottom of Contact List’s Xtraz Panel.
ICQ 5.06 in German (build #2495)
(Release date: Thursday, July 28, 2005)
ICQ 5.06 in Hebrew (build #2495)
(Release date: Thursday, July 28, 2005)
ICQ 5.04 in German (build #2487)
(Release date: Thursday, June 16, 2005)
ICQ 5.04 in Portuguese (build #2487)
(Release date: Thursday, June 16, 2005)
ICQ 5.04 in Chinese Simplified (build #2475)
(Release date: Thursday, May 19, 2005)
ICQ 5.04 in Chinese Traditional (build #2468)
(Release date: Tuesday, May 17, 2005)
ICQ 5.04 in Italian (build #2461)
(Release date: Monday, May 9, 2005)
ICQ 5.04 in Hebrew (build #2445)
(Release date: Monday, April 18, 2005)
ICQ 5.04 (build #2321)
(Release date: Monday, April 11, 2005)
Improved:
• Anti-spam filtering
• Auto Update feature improvements
ICQ 5.03 in German (build #2428)
(Release date: Wednesday, March 23, 2005)
ICQ 5.03 in Portugues (build #2428)
(Release date: Wednesday, March 23, 2005)
ICQ 5.03 (build #2315)
(Release date: Friday, February 18, 2005)
Fixed:
• Bugs in anti-spam mechanism
ICQ 5.02 (build #2309)
(Release date: Monday, February 7, 2005)
New in this version:
• Push-to-Talk — Instant communication walkie-talkie style.
• ICQ Voice Chat.
• Compatibility with dual screens.
• Compatibility with full screen games.
• Integrated Google Search — highlight a word in a message and right click to search Google.
• SMS Follow Me Xtra (IM forwarding). Only available with supported networks.
• Status Manager Xtra — Make your own status.
• Ability to show/hide the contact list capability icons. (added movable separator)
• Buzz It! Xtra — Send a message to multiple recipients.
• New Auto Update mechanism.
• Send messages using the Enter key (configurable).
• New Send Contact ability — drag & drop a contact into a message to send it.
Improved:
• ZIP code support (10 characters including Alphanumeric values).
• Contact list capability icons.
• Better file transfer — now rerouted through server when failing to connect peer to peer. (Supports AIM & AOL users as well)
• Better skin support.
• Better support for XP SP2 and the Windows Firewall.
• Incoming message from «Not in List» users is now embedded within the message dialog.
• Multilingual display of user names in the contact list and ICQ dialogs.
• Banners can now open Xtraz features.
• ICQ Video is now embedded within the message.
• Extracted sound files and emoticon image files from executable to folders.
(\ICQLite\Sounds and ICQLite\Smilies)
(\ICQLite\Sounds and ICQLite\Smilies)
• New Xtraz will now be highlighted on the Xtraz panels.
• Online/Offline contact list indicators are now colored red/green.
• Improved Xtraz Center design and navigation.
• Improved client loading & performance.
Changed:
• Ability to accept all incoming events now also in «Away» status.
• Closing a message notification (by clicking X) now closes the message itself.
• The option to «Read Away Message» from the user menu has been removed.
• Xtraz panel is always open upon client launch. (configurable)
• Xtraz Center button access has been added to the main interface.
• The SMS button has been removed from the main interface and is accessible from the Main Menu.
Fixed:
• URLs are now kept in the message after closing and reopening the session.
• ICQ now connects through Socks 4 and Socks 5.
• Message text is now shown in the conversation area prior to sending.
• Skin color setting now also affects selected name on contact list.
ICQ 4.14 (build #1839)
(Release date: Wednesday, October 20, 2004)
Fixed
• SMS MO message does not arrive correctly to ICQ client.
• Privacy & security bug that enabled the exposure of the user’s IP address to anyone without the knowledge of the user.
ICQ 4.13 (build #1837)
(Release date: Monday, October 11, 2004)
Fixed
• Memory management improvements.
• A bug that caused occasionally the same message to be sent twice.
ICQ 4.12 (build #1836)
(Release date: Tuesday, August 31, 2004)
Fixed
• Bug with multi-line options in preferences dialogs.
• Installation wizard minor bugs.
• Additional minor bugs.
Improved
• Compatibility with XP Service Pack 2.
• Better resource usage.
• Compatibility with localized versions.
ICQ 4.1 in Hebrew (build #1736)
(Release date: Sunday, August 29, 2004)
ICQ 4.1 (build #1807)
(Release date: Tuesday, July 27, 2004)
Fixed
• Bug in user details «About» section text field that deleted text above limit without informing user.
• Problems in displaying captions in Asian languages.
• Display bug in the localized version System Notice messages.
• Bug that caused Greeting Card, Birthday Reminders and Send URL messages from ICQ Pro to ICQ 4 not to be displayed according to receivers local settings.
• Bug that caused messages not to be presented correctly, overriding user’s color and font settings.
• Bug that caused «gibberish» messages when sending Birthday or Xtraz URL.
• Bug that ignored the user’s Anti Spam Filter settings (always keeping it «On») when incoming authorization request arrived.
• Bug that caused the next message in the incoming messages list not to be refreshed after clicking the Next >> button.
ICQ 4.1 in Hebrew (build #1736)
(Release date: Sunday, August 29, 2004)
ICQ 4.1 in Turkish (build #1719)
(Release date: Monday, July 26, 2004)
(Release date: Monday, July 26, 2004)
ICQ 4.1 in Portuguese (build #1708)
(Release date: Wednesday, July 14, 2004)
ICQ 4.1 in Swedish (build #1708)
(Release date: Thursday, July 8, 2004)
ICQ 4.1 in Spanish (build #1708)
(Release date: Thursday, July 8, 2004)
ICQ 4.1 in French (build #1702)
(Release date: Sunday, July 4, 2004)
ICQ 4.1 in German (build #1702)
(Release date: Thursday, July 1, 2004)
ICQ 4.1 (build #1717)
(Release date: Monday, June 14, 2004)
Fixed
• Contact List loading problems was fixed.
• Changes in Preferences and Security remain when switching menu tabs.
• Improved message window loading time.
• Text and color settings are instantly saved, no need to close message window first.
• After closing and reopening a message window, the ‘User’s URL stays in the message session.
• Right click in supported games/apps enabled.
ICQ 4.01 (build #1668)
(Release date: Monday, May 17, 2004)
Changed
• XML configuration changed
ICQ 4 (build #1646)
(Release date: Monday, April 20, 2004)
New
• ICQ Xtraz
• ICQ Super Message
• ICQ Image Gallery
• Tray notifications
• Birthday Reminder
Improved
• New Look and Improved Usability